Grand Bazaar of Istanbul : Photos & Shopping Guide

The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul is not your average shopping mall. Shopkeepers are not shy about letting you know they want your money and will do their best to get it. Sixty streets covered with thousand of shops is not easy going and can be overwhelming especially if you are not used to crowds.

On my first visit to the Grand Bazaar, I spent most of my time staring at the rush with my mouth open! The crowds were too much and I didn’t buy anything. My second visit was with two friends; female and foreign, we were all ripe targets.

We did survive though so I have put together my photo guide on everything you need to know including where to find maps, souvenirs to buy, opening hours, shopping etiquette, getting there & how to bargain like a pro so you come away with some awesome and cheap souvenirs!

Guide to The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul

What To Buy

Well, it would be quicker to list what is not for sale because there are millions of weird, wonderful and normal things to buy. I did not spot any farm animals or day trip tickets to outer space. Streets are grouped according to the products they sell, which is a tradition dating back to the Ottoman times. Locals shop in the market as well, so you can find some household goods. Unfortunately, there is also quite a lot of junk.

In the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, You Can Buy….

A gas mask if you know something the rest of us don’t!

A cute little guitar with the Turkish flag on it…

A pair of funky boots…

A statue of some cool dude from the Ottoman empire…

Food and drink from this bloke if he stops daydreaming and washes his hands first!

How to Avoid Hassle in the Grand Bazaar

Your second option is to roll around in the trash and sleep on the streets the night before, so everyone thinks you are a tramp with no money.

Your third option is to kit yourself out with a burqa and a pair of soundproof earplugs.

Well, by now, you should realize what I am trying to say. There is no normal way to avoid the hassle. You have to deal with it. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul is the lion’s den and you are the prey.

Women : If it is that time of the month when PMT is rearing its ugly head, I suggest staying away until your hormones return to normal. After all, there are only so many times you can hear “do you want to buy a carpet?” before deciding to batter the salesman around the head with his lovely Turkish carpets.

Seriously, you have to be a good mood. Just join in with the banter and you can end up having quite a laugh. Many salesman asked me to take their photograph. One asked for a kiss so I told him my husband was around the corner. As for the “do you want to buy a carpet?”, the conversation went something like this.

Salesmen – Do you want to buy a carpet?

Me – No, I bought six yesterday

Salesman – What about your friend?

Me – She bought nine yesterday

Salesman – So you are rich ladies then?

Me – No we are now poor, but that carpet seller is now rich

The salesman laughed and backed off.

Note : I did not get grabbed on the arm by any salesman, but if this does happen to you, simply tell them firmly but nicely to take their hands off you. It is no use getting angry with any of them

A funny salesman

Bargaining Like a Pro in the Grand Bazaar

As mentioned before, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul has a lot of junk for sale but if you find something you like, get your bargaining head on. If you do not bargain, you will be ripped off as the shop owner is expecting you to ask for a lower price, therefore has already put the price up.

As a rule, whatever price he gives you, go back with 50% knocked off. He will laugh, tell you he is poor and has six children to feed, and then come back with another price. Repeat the process until you both agree on a price.

Maps for the Grand Bazaar

If you want to know your location at all times, here is a map. Unfortunately walking around the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul with a map, is the equivalent of sticking a flashing neon sign on your head, saying, “Look at me everyone”

Instead prepare to get lost; it is part of the fun. You can discover so much more. When you are fed up and decide that, you want out, look for the exits signs, which are everywhere.

Opening Hours

The Grand bazaar of Istanbul is closed on Sundays but open every other day from 9.00am to 7.00pm. Yearly October the 29th is a bank holiday in Turkey, so it also shuts then. You should also check the opening hours during religious holidays that are Seker Bayram and Kurban Bayram (these occur at different times every year)

How to Get to the Grand Bazaar

It is located in the Beyazit district of Istanbul (near Sultan Ahmet) so ask your hotel for details of buses passing in that direction. If you are staying in the Sultan Ahmet, Beyoglu, Fatih, Eminonu or Taksim districts, it is within walking distance. Use Google maps to input the location of your hotel, the Grand Bazaar and it will give you the perfect route!

Grand Bazaar Tour Ideas

If you want the help of a guide or are a repeat visitor to Istanbul, you might enjoy the unique Grand Bazaar experiences offered by Istanbul Tour Studio. In the past, I’ve worked closely with Sinan Sokmen, who is the owner, manager, and a local tour guide and together with other independent experts, he has created two tours to enhance a visit to this historical Ottoman landmark.

The first is the Bazaaring in Istanbul tour tailored for shopaholics or anyone daunted by the thought of exploring the Grand Bazaar on their own. The curator is an antique expert who has spent most of his life meandering around the bazaars of Istanbul, and he has set the course for a local tour guide to help you explore the traditional side of the Grand Bazaar and other shopping havens such as the Spice market. (Read more about him and the tour here)

The second experience is the Jewellery workshop held in a traditional and ancient han of the Grand Bazaar. A silver/goldsmith demonstrates the art of making traditional Turkish jewellery before letting you take the reins to make your very own souvenirs instead of buying them. (Watch the video and read more about the experience here)

Lastly…enjoy the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the best markets in the world!

Hi. My name is Natalie Sayin and this blog is a collection of personal articles about my travels in Turkey as well as my thoughts on culture, traditions and the Turkish way of life Read my story here or keep up to date with posts by joining me on Facebook.

This is a wonderful post Natalie! Full of great info. Although I have to say that I didn’t find the salesman too harassing at all, at least in comparison to some other places I’ve been. Will be back in a couple of weeks though, so will find out if it’s much different during a more touristy time.

The lamp shades are nice Di but a bit too pricey for me. Long time since I have been to the markets here so I had become used to no hassle. The grand bazaar was not bad though, I expected worse. Maybe it was because I knew I did not have any money to spend! 🙂

This takes me back to when I visited the Grand Bazaar about 10 years ago…I give it the thumb’s up, even if you dont like crowds and being hassled, it is just something you have to visit and experience. One thing I never knew quite how to handle was shopkeepers offering one apple tea, never knew if they were being friendly or just getting you to drink their tea and then you feel guilty if you dont buy their wares…. loved the apple tea though!

I feel awkward with the tea as well Cynthia. A chance to get you sitting in the shop, looking at their goods and more chances to sell you something. As a rule, I don’t accept the tea, unless I am serious about buying something from them. Then I will not be put in any awkward positions.

It can get annoying to be constantly hassled by the merchants, but overall I really liked the Grand Bazaar. I’m still not completely comfortable with the haggling process but at least I still went for it and got lower prices.

I remember being so overwhelmed here on my first international trip as an adult (after university). Would love to go back when I am not as intimidated by the size and the bartering in a foreign language.

I liked the guitars as well Eva, thought they were really quirky! The only chance you will get to be in this place is if you go to Istanbul and it is one of the greatest cities in the world so make it your next holiday!

Splendid Natalie. I have tackled the Grand Bazaar many, many times, bravely, always on my own. It’s not easy and you need a tom of good humor. Next time, I think I’ll carry a rolled up carpet over my shoulder and offer it to the carpet dealers for sale. I just want to see that face!!

It was a nice touch to add tips on the hassling, Its definitely a big part of the culture and I’m truthfully not fond of it.

You do have to calibrate your mood mentally to deal with it. Its best to remind yourself that locals have to deal with it too. I wasn’t in need of anything so I didn’t really have to subject myself to more of it than I needed to.

Oh I so wish I’d read this blog before I went to the Grand Bazaar! I could have done with the ‘prepare yourself to be hassled to death’ advice.

Sadly for me, I was an unprepared gal by myself, and found the constant hassle too much. I went in with money that I’d saved just for that experience, and came out without spending a dime. Instead I did a ridiculous walk past, craning my neck to try to see as I moved too quickly to be harassed.

Not ideal! But I did love the colours, the actual market space and pretty much everything.. Except the hassle. Next time I’ll be better prepared!

I loved the Grand Bazaar. It was on my first visit to Turkey and I loved the laid back joviality of it (“Do you want to buy my rubbish?” was one of the favourite lines I heard). I love the way you have beaufiul wares next to tacky stuff made in Taiwan, the noise, the crowds, the smells of spices and loukums. We looked at carpets, drank tea, tried on leather jackets, tasted loukums, enjoyed the jokes and ended up just buying a couple of keyrings but never felt hassled. Not in the same way that I had felt hassled in the souk in Tunis for example. Nobody touched or made me feel physically uncomfortable. It was good-natured banter like on many of the markets that you used to have in the North of England.

I’m excited to be a part of your blog as I am getting ready to move to Ankara Turkey this August. I will be studying at Bilkent University for four months. I am with the University of California study abroad program.

I’m trying to learn as much about Turkey as possible before I leave and your site looks like a great place to start. Thanks for the info and expect a lot of questions from me in the coming months.

I plan on leaving early from California to arrive in Ankara around August 16th. If possible I want to leave my baggage at Bilkent and travel until my start date of Sept 16th. My question to you is: I have heard that I can take a cheap airplane flight to Germany from Turkey. How cheap is it in reality? I would like to arrive in Ankara and fly to Munich. Munich I would like to travel by train and bus to Vienna-Budapst and make my way through the Balkans until finally arriving back in Istanbul. Do you have any experience traveling through the Balkans? Do you suggest I travel Turkey only during that time?

Hi Javier, wow – I would have to get the map out to look at all these places but it seems to me like you are doing a lot of traveling in just a month. Any reason why you are doing that, rather than just sticking to Turkey? You can get cheap flights from Germany to Turkey depending on whether your definition of cheap is the same as mine

We ended up going twice. Both were good times, although the second time with a map actually made me feel better about wandering. I figure I look like a tourist anyway, why should I actually BE lost just because I look it.

I found the easiest way to deal with the hassle was literally to ignore them and keep walking as if you didn’t hear them. If you aren’t talking with a friend for them to pick up a language, it is kind of neat to see what they switch to next.

I don’t haggle well or happily, but I ended up going into the leather section and do so for a new wallet. Worked out ok, though in the end I just kept repeating the same price because that was literally all I had in my pocket to pay.

We found one of the better Doner places outside of the bazaar between gates 18 and 19 and went back explicitly to them the next time.

Strange that you should mention if you are not talking with a friend, how they switch because over the course of three days, I was spoken to in German and Turkish. One bloke even thought I was from Slovakia for some reason

Well done on the bargain as well, I ended up buying nothing. Wish I had known about your kebab place as I did not find anywhere that particularly bowled me over

This is not the turkey that I know, I was told to take off my cross and cover my head with a scarf.

Turkey was not a country till 1923, didn’t have an alphabet until that year. It was largely stolen from the indigenous people of Turkey: Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, some latin and arabic.

Christianity started in Anatolia, but the Turks/Ottomans destroyed it, burnt churches, or worse converted them to Mosques like the St. Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (they changed the name from Constaniople)

Sorry, but Turkey gets a ZERO in human rights from me and now it is being taken over by Islamic Terrorists AKP party that is under the direction of Imam Fethullah Gulen (Gulen Movement) his followers control everything: Education, media, politics, police, judicary system and now the military.

thanks but no thanks.
I will pass on Turkey until they can figure out what they are doing and until the EU accepts them which will probably be never.

Sam – I find it strange that you should be told to cover your head in the grand bazaar when I never have and I saw many other women in there without headscaves. Maybe your guide or friend was OTT

Also I hope Turkey never gets into the EU, the cost of travelling around this beautiful country would go up ten fold. Imagine all that bureaucracy and red tape as well. Thanks but no thanks!

Re the Ottoman empire – what is done is done. I don’t see the point in dwelling on their past. Same as the people who mention America and destruction of life for the native red Indian, when it was occupied by foreigners.

Re the AKP and human rights, the people of Turkey voted them in and will vote them out if they see fit. If you want to discuss politics, I think, you will have more luck on a political blog than a travel one.

Dear Natalie: I am working on a quilting challenge with 12 poets and 12 quilters call Poetry in Free Motion. The poem I am interpreting is about a woman dreaming of sites in Turkey. I have made a wall hanging plus working on a fabric book with photos from Turkey. The Bazaar is mentioned in the poem and I would like to seek your permission to use the first photo on this page at the top of the Bazaar. My deadline is September 15th in order to complete my project for a poetry reading and show.

I would appreciate your permission to use your photo in my project. Thank you. Diane Billiard

Hi Natalie, I was looking for some information about Turkey and I found your lovely blog. Congrats. I’m really impressed and happy to get to know these all news. You’re a really talented writer and your shots are wonderful!
Best regards from Sarajevo

Hi Natalie!
it looks like the bazaar is too big… I love to visit turkey and think it is one of the most beautiful country in world. Especially istanbul is perfect and must visit place… Hope to be there someday… Thanks for the wonderful post.

The Grand bazaar of Istanbul may not be the average shopping mall, but I didn’t hear anyone going to Instanbul and miss it. It is a piece of what makes Istanbul special and I think everyone should at least see the atmoshpere there 🙂

Today was my first time in the Grand Bazaar, I had some good experiences, and a couple of bad.
I was looking for a kilm cushion cover, and let one of the shop owners ‘seduce’ me into his store.
He proceeded to show me all of the ‘old’ ones and said the new ones were junk, even after I told him
it was for a friend, who’s cat slept on it. I found the one I liked and, he asked if he could show me some more things, I said yes so he said ‘IF’ you were to buy a carpet what would you use it for…
I told him so he brought out some things anything I said I liked he threw on the pile. I ended up with 5-6 things more that I wanted, when I said I only wanted the cushion cover and the bag he got very angry with me… I would advise anyone to stay outside the stores, and ask prices first before being ‘seduced’ inside. Know what you want before you start bargaining.
On the up side, I had several of them tell me they could change my life in 60 seconds, after the first experience, I needed the laugh! 😉

I enjoyed traveling back to Istanbul with your photos. After reading the post about handling
the numerous carpet dealers and sellers in the Grand Bazaar, I’ve found that learning 2 simple
words in Turkish can make a world of difference. “NO THANK YOU”- Hiyer, Teshkullar. and
make with the face gesture and continue on your way. Simple as that.

My family just came back from their Holidays in Istanbul. They brought us few nice presents. Reading your blog reminded me what they were saying about this country. I’m planning my Holidays there next year, looking forward to it. I’m going to continue read your blogs now as I find them very interesting and helpful. Thank you. 🙂

thank you so much Natalie….a very comprehensive blog…..full of wit and valuable info….truly enjoyed reading….B T W…….are there any police…..security located within the bazaar ?……happy new week i wish you

Thanks for all the great info.
Silly question, but how do you find things you want in the Grand Bazaar with all those bloody shops. Say I go in wanting an traditional Turkish knife, is there someone I can ask or are there useful maps around. Would love any reply from anyone, as I will be shipping out to Europe within 3 weeks and have the Grand Bazarr in my sights..
Thanks very much.

I have been to Istanbul before, many years ago with my partner at the time. I am going again next week, but this time alone. Do single women get harassed more? Also, I’d like to take lots of photos, including of inside the Grand Bazaar, which I did not get from my last trip there. Are photos allowed inside the Grand Bazaar, and is it OK to take pictures of the stalls? I’d like to share the vibrant colors of the Grand Bazaar with people from home.

Seems they did not name it “Grand” for nothing. So many beautiful colors and by the sound of it huge as well. And “Food and drink from this bloke if he stops daydreaming and washes his hands first!”. LOL.